Chapter 335 - Deliberate Prank
However, he didn"t have a choice now because he had to solve the problem at hand. Since the scar-faced Franco, who was creating trouble at the warehouse by blocking the entrances and exists, insisted on communicating with Adrian before he would budge, William had no choice but to find Adrian as soon as possible!
Otherwise, the company would incur major losses!
Left with no choice, William started the car again and quickly drove toward Ocean International Building, where Adrian claimed to be.
Meanwhile, Adrian was sitting comfortably in a café and enjoying his breakfast with coffee. Staring at his phone screen that kept lighting up because of William"s incessant calls, he simply ignored the alerts and smirked in derision.
Of course, Adrian wasn"t in Ocean International Building. But he was relis.h.i.+ng in the thrill of watching William wrapped helplessly around his finger.
After nearly twenty minutes, Adrian finished the last sip of his coffee leisurely and finally answered the call. "h.e.l.lo."
"Adrian Hill, I"ve arrived at the entrance of Ocean International Building." William was trying to curb his anger. "Are you coming down on your own, or do you want me to go up to look for you?"
Pretending to be shocked, Adrian exclaimed, "Ocean International Building, why did you end up there? I clearly told you that I"m at River Café! Mr. Carter, has your hearing deteriorated now that you"re getting older? How could you have made such a ridiculous mistake?"
"Adrian Hill! I"ve had enough of you!" William could no longer stand it and hollered furiously. "Is it that fun to make a fool out of me? You wanted me to express my sincerity by picking you up. Fine, I complied and drove to several different places! Yet you"ve been lying to me all this while!"
The goods at the warehouse had to be dispatched urgently, and every minute wasted would cause the company to suffer increasingly heavy losses. William was panic-stricken and full of anxiousness. He obviously didn"t have the time for such senseless games with Adrian.
"William Carter, is this the att.i.tude you should have when you"re asking someone for help? I"m warning you. If you dare to continue speaking like that, you can forget about asking me to go back and help you with the issue the company is facing!"
Adrian sneered, extremely certain that with Franco"s pressure, William would definitely have no other option than to continue begging him.
William gritted his teeth, took a deep breath, and suppressed the burning fury within him. He asked, "What exactly do you want?"
"I"ve already told you that I"m at River Café. I"ll give you ten minutes to come here. It"s up to you!" With that, Adrian hung up again.
William took several deep breaths and finally curbed his anger. He then started his car again and drove to the café Adrian said he was at.
During the journey, William also thought about calling Lucas for help, but he soon dropped the idea.
The first reason for his decision was that he reckoned Franco and Adrian should be in cahoots to humiliate him and make him let Adrian return to the company. William felt that it was his responsibility to handle the matter, which he could resolve as long as he dealt with Adrian. If he kept asking Lucas for help with every problem he encountered, he would seem too incompetent.
Second, it was naturally because he knew that Franco and his underlings were too ruthless and violent. Even the ten-odd security guards William had brought to the warehouse with him were powerless and unable to do anything against them. He was afraid that he might put Lucas in danger by asking him to help him out at the warehouse.
So after much contemplation, William decided not to call Lucas and instead bit the bullet and sped off to the café.
William finally met Adrian at the café.
William wiped off the sweat on his forehead and said anxiously, "Adrian Hill, the situation at the warehouse has to be taken care of urgently. I"ll fulfill the conditions you raised just now and let you resume as deputy general manager of the company. Please hurry up and come with me to the warehouse to settle things with that man!"
As William spoke, he reached his hand out to grab Adrian"s arm to urge him to leave quickly.
But Adrian pushed William"s hand away.
"There"s no hurry." Adrian smirked. "William Carter, I told you before that what I want is not the position of deputy general manager, but general manager. Do you understand?"
With an extremely gloomy expression, William hollered, "I told you that that"s impossible, and you"ve already agreed at the time too!"
Adrian raised his head and said obnoxiously, "Ah, yes, I did agree before, but things are different now because I"ve changed my mind again!"
"You!" William was so enraged that he began trembling while hating himself for trusting Adrian despite knowing that he was a vile, despicable person.
"You"ve already wasted so much time. If you can"t make up your mind now, the company will definitely incur heavy losses! In particular, if you can"t fulfill that especially important order by this afternoon and deliver the goods on time, the company will have to pay at least a few million dollars in liquidated damages. Am I right?"
Adrian was very confident because he had long known about this important order that the company had to fulfill, which was also the reason he chose to carry out his plan on this very day. He was putting great pressure on William.
"William Carter, you must think through this carefully. If you obey me and let me become the general manager, I guarantee that I can solve this matter satisfactorily. But if you insist on clinging to the position of general manager and refuse to step down, the company will have to incur losses of dozens or even hundreds of millions of dollars!
"When the time comes, you"ll be a huge sinner of the company, and even the chairman won"t forgive you. That person who let you join the company and gave you such a high position will definitely regret doing so and letting you bring about major losses for the company!"
Adrian"s words were like sharp daggers piercing through William"s heart, making him feel panicked, terrified, and uneasy. He even began to doubt himself and his capabilities.
Lucas was the person who had appointed him as the general manager of the company, and the only reason Lucas had given him this opportunity was that he was his father-in-law. But if he caused the company to suffer ma.s.sive losses of hundreds of millions of dollars in just half a month, how could he face his daughter and son-in-law?
Thinking of the current crisis the company was facing and the ma.s.sive losses that it might incur very soon, William closed his eyes tightly and said with great difficulty, "Fine. I promise you that I will step down and recommend to the board of directors to make you the general manager! However, you must come with me to the warehouse now and solve the problem immediately!"
Seeing that he had finally compelled William into agreeing to his demand, Adrian was overjoyed. He commanded, "Things could have been resolved easily if you had promised me sooner. What are you waiting for? Open the car door for me."
He was clearly already treating William as his chauffeur.
Despite feeling furious and frustrated, William had no choice but to open the back door of his car for Adrian before getting into the driver"s seat and speeding all the way to the large warehouse on the outskirts of the county.
In the car, Adrian was grinning widely from ear to ear and happily sending a message to the chat group with the other six former senior executives.
"The matter has been settled. Everyone, gather at the entrance of the warehouse now!"
Soon, a series of replies appeared in the group.
"Alright!"
"You"re really capable, Adrian. You got it settled so quickly!"
"Impressive! We can all finally go back to work at the company again!"
...
These six former executives were naturally the ones Willian had given the sack yesterday for choosing to take Adrian"s side.
After each of them had given 60 grand to Adrian yesterday for hiring Franco, they had been waiting anxiously for updates on the progress of the matter. Now that Adrian relayed some good news to them in the group chat, they were finally relieved, and each excitedly drove to the warehouse.
At this point, they still didn"t know that there had been a drastic twist of events in the warehouse, and what was awaiting them was definitely not the scene they wanted to see!